If you enjoy music festivals you might consider berthing at Newport Isle of Wight during festival week. From there, you can walk to and from the festival site each day. In 2023 a new arrangement was made which resulted in many more boats attending. If you are interested in attending in 2024 from 20th to 23rd June (Thursday to Sunday) here's how it works.

• Advance booking for rallys available for half the pontoon space but I would not attempt to go without a booking

• A minimum of three boats are required to make a rally booking

• Four nights must be paid for, from Thursday to Sunday

• A number of music acts perform on Thursday night; it's worth attending

• The whole site opens from Friday afternoon

In case other members are interested in going, please post a response here or contact me and I will volunteer to co-ordinate a PSSA presence.

we would be interested in joining a rally to the I of W festival next year.

Carol and Mike Donnelly

There are around seven stages performing in parallel. It used to be the case that you could hear some of the main stage acts by walking past the Bargeman’s Rest and continuing down the West Bank of the river. These days the speakers are angled slightly away from the river and this leads to a weak sound. Many boats, under the supervision of the harbour master, anchor in the river in a large raft and listen from there. You can see a portion of the main stage from the river. No music can be heard in the harbour. If the music is to your taste, the best approach is to moor in the harbour and buy a daily or weekend festival ticket, keeping in mind that harbour reservations are on the basis of paying for four nights.